Hridoy unbeaten on 242 as Bangladesh lead by 23 at the end of day three

Tawhid Hridoy has dragged Bangladesh out of the ruins. The top order and middle order had failed, and the Tigers were struggling. At 184 for 7, Hridoy began writing an epic.

With Taijul Islam and Taskin Ahmed for company, he turned the first century of his career into a double century. Then he gave Bangladesh the lead as well. On the day of Hridoy's batting, Bangladesh took a 30-run lead over the Caribbean side.

At the end of the third day at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, Bangladesh are 23 runs ahead. West Indies, batting in their second innings, have made 7 runs in 4 overs. They are still 23 runs behind.

Sadman Islam had been injured while fielding on the second day of the Sylhet Test. An ankle injury kept him from batting, so Bangladesh's first innings ended on nine wickets. When Taskin was dismissed in 111.5 overs, Bangladesh stopped at 386. Hridoy remained unbeaten on 242. His epic innings of 359 balls included 22 fours and 11 sixes.

The record for the highest individual Test innings by a Bangladeshi batter now belongs to Hridoy. The previous record was Mushfiqur Rahim's 219 not out. He is the fourth Bangladeshi batter to score a double century, and his is the sixth double century overall. Of those, Mushfiqur Rahim has three, while Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan have one each.

With 11 sixes, he also holds the record for the most sixes in an innings by a Bangladeshi batter. The previous record belonged to Tamim Iqbal, who hit seven sixes on the day of his double century against Pakistan in Khulna in 2015.

Bangladesh began the third day on 80 for 3 in 40 overs. Hridoy resumed on 29 and Mushfiq on 19. The fourth-wicket partnership broke at 124. Mushfiq was dismissed for 34 off 76 balls. Bangladesh lost their fifth wicket at 138. Liton Das was dismissed for 8 off 7 balls.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz was dismissed at 179, scoring 16 off 30 balls. The hosts lost their seventh wicket at 184. Hasan Mahmud was dismissed for 1 off 12 balls. Hridoy was then batting on 81 off 155 balls. Bangladesh were then 172 runs behind. That is when Hridoy wrote his epic.

With Taijul Islam, he added 117 runs off 167 balls for the eighth wicket. Taijul was dismissed at 301. With Taskin Ahmed, he added 85 runs off 121 balls for the ninth wicket.

Earlier, on the second day, Bangladesh had begun their reply to 356 under pressure. Opener Sadman Islam could not bat after being injured while fielding. Off-spinner Naeem Hasan, given the emergency duty, opened with Tanzid Tamim. In the fifth over, Naeem was dismissed for 5 off 6 balls at 13. The other opener, Tanzid, was dismissed at 22, scoring 16 off 33 balls.

For the third wicket, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Tawhid Hridoy added 29 runs. When Shanto was dismissed in 22.4 overs, the partnership broke. The captain scored 18 off 65 balls. Hridoy and Mushfiq then ended the day's play with an unbeaten 37-run partnership.

On Thursday, West Indies won the toss at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium and batted first. They were stopped at 356 in their first innings after batting 106.4 overs. For the Caribbean side, Amir Jangoo scored a century in the first innings, making 133 off 212 balls. Kevin Wickham scored 61, Justin Greaves 51, Jomel Warrican 27 and Joshua Bishop 23.

For Bangladesh, Hasan Mahmud took 6 wickets for 90 runs in 24 overs. Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taskin Ahmed took two wickets each. For the Caribbean side in the first innings, Jomel Warrican took 4 wickets and Jayden Seales took two.

After sending the Caribbean side in to bat in their second innings, Bangladesh wasted two reviews in the very first over. On the second ball of the over, Shanto took a review after the umpire did not give it out, but the ball passed the stumps. On the fifth ball, Bangladesh reviewed again. This time the ball touched the bat before hitting Brandon King's pad. Both reviews were wasted. Brandon King and Joshua Da Silva then ended the day's play.

Leading by 23 runs at the end of the third day, Bangladesh will look towards victory on the fourth day. West Indies' second innings has barely begun, and Hridoy's innings of 242 has already earned its place in Bangladesh's Test history.

An innings that began with a maiden century in Sylhet has reached a double century and written a new name in Bangladesh's Test record books. Unbeaten on 242, Hridoy is now the owner of Bangladesh's highest Test innings.